Tag Archives: women

A new study, conducted by scientists at Taipei Medical University Shuang-Ho Hospital in New Taipei City, has revealed that women may have a tougher time recovering their memory than men after a concussion.

The study relied upon functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to study the brains of 30 men and 30 women.

Neuropsychologist Dave Ellemberg, an associate professor who studies brain injuries at the University of Montreal, told the media that “you cannot treat women like you treat men. But in the field of the management of brain injuries, everyone is managed the same. The data mainly comes from men, and the management programs are all based on evidence that comes from them.”

The Sunday Los Angeles Times tells the story of Lauren Holiday, a UCLA basketball player, who is showing the detrimental effects of multiple concussions during a playing career, and how female student athletes often get lost in the headlines of concussion issues in the professional sports ranks.

“Holiday suffered her first three college head injuries in the summer of 2012 during pickup games and practices before her freshman season at UCLA,” according to the paper. “In the first, she took a knee to the head as she and a male scout-team player dived for a loose ball. The second came when a scout player’s elbow struck the top of her head while they battled for a rebound. The third occurred in a similar way.”

She would suffer two more concussions during actual games, which have all but shuttered her playing career.

The article also sounds an alarm over the risk of concussion to female college soccer players, specifically goalkeepers, noting that “three highly regarded soccer goalies (have been) forced to the sidelines (because of concussions): Emily Oliver, who won a national championship with Stanford; Molly Poletto, who played for the U.S. Youth under-17 and under-15 national teams but whose career was derailed before she ever played for the University of Utah; and Anna Cassell, another former youth national team member who starred for Northwestern.”

For the full article, visit: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0223-concussions-ucla-holiday-20140223,0,3323981.story?page=3#axzz2uKqhXBXx